An ECU Tune and a Chevrolet Corvette C5 Makes 40 MPG

Forget the Hybrid

Fuel economy is a hot topic in the automotive industry right now. Hybrid cars are a big deal. Getting 40 miles per gallon or more is pretty impressive, but you have to have a tiny light car or a hybrid vehicle to get there, right? Wrong. You can get 40 mpg in a Corvette C5 with the typical V8.

Alex Palmeri from the LegitStreetCars YouTube channel wanted to see how good he could do in terms of gas mileage in his 140,000-mile C5. The video was showcased on Road & Track recently. The vehicle received an ECU tune that made it run leaner, which means the car lightly sips fuel when cruising.

Once the ECU tune was done, he was able to see 40.26 mpg during a mostly highway drive. While that was a trip taken easy and trying hard to get good mileage, this goes to show that you can get good mileage out of your C5 if you want to. We wonder if that’s the same for the other generations of the Corvette as well.

It would seem to us that more advanced Corvette’s might even be able to do better. Mayne Palmeri will be able to get his hands on some other Vettes to see what he can do. If he does, we’ll let you know. You can check out his video below.

One Comment

I own a 2000 Corvette, manual transmission. I cannot find any collaboration regarding the article, “an ECU tune and a Chevrolete Corvette makes 40 mpg”. I sent an email to HP tuners an email regarding this video and article and I received a reply that did not address this question. I have also combed Corvette Forum and had similar responses,that is to say, nothing concrete. Fascinating and intriguing. I have 217,000 miles on my Corvette, which is my daily driver and I have owned it for the last 11 years.

I have also visited all the local garages and speed shops in the area and they were skeptical or unable to help me, including a Corvette specialty shop.

Can you help me? What HP tuning product do I need and what are the guidelines I need to follow to match his results?

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